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Benin

Benin (/bɛˈniːn/ (About this soundlisten) beh-NEEN, /bɪˈniːn/ bih-NEEN; French: Bénin [benɛ̃]), officially the Republic of Benin (French: République du Bénin) and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2016 was estimated to be approximately 10.87 million. Benin is a tropical nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.From Wikipedia

Provides information on the survey methods and techniques, working papers and briefing papers of Afrobarometer’s non-partisan research project that measures the social, political and economic atmosphere in more than a dozen African countries.Afrobarometer

The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for "British Encyclopaedia"), published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is written by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors, who have included 110 Nobel Prize winners and five American presidents.Encyclopedia Brittanica

West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subregion of Africa. West Africa has been defined as including 18 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, the island nation of Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, the island of Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe and Togo.West(ern) Africa region on Wikipedia

The EEAS is the European Union's diplomatic service. It helps the EU's foreign affairs chief – the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – carry out the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy.EU Delegation

Representation of (tentative) African heritage sites on the World Heritage List which is maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).UNESCO World Heritage List

The Zárate's Political Collections (ZPC) is a site devoted to collect dates and figures of the worldwide leadership on a country basis.Zarate World Political Leaders

This regularly updated website has a global collection of voter turnout statistics for presidential and parliamentary elections since 1945.
International IDEA: Voter Turnout

ElectionGuide is provided by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an international nonprofit dedicated to strengthening electoral democracy. Launched in 1998 through a grant from USAID and currently funded by the same, ElectionGuide is the most comprehensive and timely source of verified election information available online.IFES Election Guide

PARLINE is the IPU's database on national parliaments. It contains authoritative information on the structure and working methods of every national parliament.IPU PARLINE Parliament database

Business law and information on taxation in francophone Africa including texts of laws. Kept up to date and selected by specialist lawyers. (In French.)
Droit-Afrique.com

Congress established its Law Library in 1832, recognizing its need for ready access to reliable legal materials. The Law Library has grown over the years to become the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world.Library of Congress Guide to Law Online

The Global Observatory provides timely analysis on peace and security issues by experts, journalists, and policymakers. It is published by the International Peace Institute. The views expressed here represent those of the contributors and not IPI.IPI Global Observatory

UNOWAS has the responsibility for preventive diplomacy, good offices and political mediation and facilitation efforts in West Africa and the Sahel. UNOWAS also works to consolidate peace and democratic governance in countries emerging from conflict or political crises.UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel

The Africa Center is a U.S. Department of Defense institution established and funded by Congress for the study of security issues relating to Africa and serving as a forum for bilateral and multilateral research, communication, training, and exchange of ideas involving military and civilian participants. Its mission is to advance African security by expanding understanding, providing a trusted platform for dialogue, building enduring partnerships, and catalyzing strategic solutions.Africa Center for Strategic Studies

This index (formerly the Failed States Index), created by The Fund for Peace and published by Foreign Policy, has put countries into perspective by providing an annual snapshot of their vitality and stability (or lack thereof) and ranking them accordingly.Fragile States Index

Maps and ground breaking peace research from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Global Peace Index

Established in Washington, D.C., over 50 years ago, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to providing strategic insights and policy solutions to help decisionmakers chart a course toward a better world.Center for Strategic and International Studies

This site has information provided by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program at Uppsala University on armed conflicts around the world.Uppsala conflict database

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.SIPRI databases

The University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights database has documents on national legislation (Constitution) and reports from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as UN documents.
African Human Rights Document database

Founded by four journalists in the southern French city Montpellier in 1985, RSF is now one of the world’s leading NGOs in the defense and promotion of freedom of information.Reporters Without Borders

FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) is an international human rights NGO federating 184 organisations from 112 countries. Since 1922, FIDH has been defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.International Federation for Human Rights

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) is a continental network made up of some of the most influential media rights and freedom of expression organisations across the West, East, Central and Southern Africa regions.African Freedom of Expression Exchange

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the principal United Nations office mandated to promote and protect human rights for all.UN OHCHR Human Rights

The MFWA is a regional independent non-governmental organization. It is the biggest and most influential media development and freedom of expression advocacy organisation in West Africa with national partner organisations in all 16 countries of the region. The MFWA is also the Secretariat of the Continental Network of the most Prominent Free Expression and Media Development Organisations in Africa, known at the Africa Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) Network.Media Foundation for West Africa

The CIVICUS Monitor is a research tool that provides close to real-time data on the state of civil society and civic freedoms in 196 countries. The data is generated through a collaboration with more than 20 civil society research partners, and input from a number of independent human rights evaluations.CIVICUS Monitor

The African Charter established the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In addition to performing any other tasks which may be entrusted to it by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Commission is officially charged with three major functions: the protection of human and peoples' rights; the promotion of human and peoples' rights; the interpretation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.International Monetary Fund

GlobalEDGE is a source for statistical data for nearly every country in the world. GlobalEDGE is developed by the Michigan State University International Business Centre.GlobalEDGE business news and data

UNCTADSTAT country profiles are selections of key economic statistics by country. They include a wide range of internationally comparable indicators allowing users to compare statistics across countries. The general profiles provide a basic snapshot of a country's economic and financial situation, facilitating convenient cross-country comparisons. UN Conference on Trade and Development

The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the International Labour Organization (ILO) brings together governments, employers and workers representatives of 187 member States , to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.UN International Labour Organization

UNDP works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.UN Development Programme

Open.undp.org presents detailed information on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) local and regional projects.UNDP Projects

Provide broad mesures of well-being for countries in de UN system and published annually by the United Nations Development Programme.The indicators are health, education, income/command over resources, inequalty, gender, poverty, employment and vulnerability, human security, trade and financial flows, mobility and communication, environment, demography.International human development indicators

Eldis supports free and open access to useful and relevant research on global development challenges.Eldis country profiles

The Development Data Hub is the most comprehensive online resource for financial and resource flow data alongside poverty, social and vulnerability indicators. It combines an extensive data store with interactive visualisations enabling you to chart, map and compare data at the global, national and local level.Development Data Hub

The overarching objective of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.African Development Bank Group

Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAO's efforts – to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. FAO Country profiles

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. UNIDO maintains a variety of databases comprising statistics of overall industrial growth, detailed data on business structure and statistics on major indicators of industrial performance by country in the historical time series. UN Industrial Development Organization data

Provides statistics, estimates and projections produced by countries and compiled by the United Nations data system on agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labour, national accounts, population and tourism.
United Nations Data

Provides a compilation of data with maps and graphs from the CIA World Factbook, the UN and the OECD.
NationMaster

The Africa Information Highway (AIH) was developed by the Statistics Department of AfDB as part of the Bank’s statistical capacity building program (SCB) in Africa. AIH is a mega network of live open data platforms (ODPs) electronically linking all African countries and 16 regional organizations.AFDB Africa Information Highway

Gives access to a wide range of development data on Africa in African Development Bank Group's data portals as well as from other regional and international partners. The platform also facilitates the collection, analysis, and sharing of data on topics such as food security, gender equality, and climate change.Open Data for Africa

The World Energy Council provides impartial and objective data sets about energy to inform the energy debate and support sustainable business decisions and policymaking.World Energy Council data

Offers access to a repository of open data on the African continent and maintained by Code for Africa as a public service.openAFRICA datasets

JSTOR Open Content provides thousands of free journal articles and open access book chapters.JSTOR Open Content

The World Bank Group Open Knowledge Repository, or OKR, is your source for development publications and research. Download more than 4000 research documents on Sub-Saharan Africa, including books and flagship reports on poverty, employment and economic growth. World Bank Group Open Knowledge Repository

The OAPEN Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation based in the Netherlands, with its registered office at the National Library in The Hague. OAPEN is dedicated to open access, peer-reviewed books.OAPEN Open Access

Google Scholar provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles. Not all content found in Scholar is free. The link offered here is restricted to search terms in the title.Google Scholar

Compiled by the University Library of Johann Christian Senckenberg in Frankfurt on the Main and the GIGA Information Centre: Africa Library in Hamburg. Has a database of Internet resources with more than 4900 websites on Sub-Saharan Africa.
ilissAfrica internet resources

The Herskovits Library of African Studies (US Northwestern University) 16th- Early 20th Century Maps of Africa collection contains digital copies of 113 antique maps of Africa and accompanying text.16th- Early 20th Century Maps of Africa

This Slave Trade Story Map provides the means to explore some of the historic sites of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and to extract detailed information on some 24000 of nearly 36000 recorded voyages across the Atlantic.Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Story Map

'Landscapes of West Africa, A Window on a Changing World' presents a vivid picture of the changing natural environment of West Africa. By U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.Landscapes of West Africa

Libraries and archives

The website of Benin’s National Archives provides 170 original historical documents and photographs (1893-1937) related to slavery, the slave trade and colonialism in Benin (in French).Direction des Archives Nationales

The British Library Endangered Archives Programme's aim is to contribute to the preservation of archival material that is in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration world-wide. British Library Endangered Archives Programme

Slave Biographies: The Atlantic Database Network is an open access data repository of information on the identities of enslaved people in the Atlantic World. It includes the names, ethnicities, skills, occupations, and illnesses of individual slaves.Slave Biographies databases

The African Activist Archive Project is building an online archive of primary materials - documents, photographs, artifacts, and written and oral memories - of 50 years of activist organizing in the United States in solidarity with African struggles against colonialism, apartheid, and injustice. An African Online Digital Library (AODL) / Michigan State University (MSU) website.African Activist Archive

Movies and images

Lists more than 1300 films/documentaries on a specific country in the library catalogue of the African Studies Centre (ASC) in Leiden.
African films at the ASCL

Is a library of homemade movies and amateur films illustrating French colonial history in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Congo, the CAR, Cameroon, Benin, Madagascar and Indochina.
Cinémémoire Films d'Archives

IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. The IMDb consumer site (www.imdb.com) is the #1 movie website in the world with a combined web and mobile audience of more than 250 million unique monthly visitors. IMDb 'movies by country' offers lists and other information about titles produced or co-produced by that country.International Movie Database

The historical images (ca.1860-ca.1960) in the International Mission Photography Archive come from Protestant and Catholic missionary collections held at a number of centers in Britain, Europe, and North America. The photographs record missionary endeavors and reflect the missionaries’ experience of communities and environments abroad. International Mission Photography Archive

A project of the U.S. Library of Congress, with the support UNESO. It makes significant primary materials from all countries and cultures available on the Internet.The World Digital Library

The Justine Cordwell Collection (US Northwestern University - Herskovits Library of African Studies) contains images of textiles, architecture, pottery, metalwork and other art, as well as people going about their daily business. Justine Cordwell (1920 - 2011) was a renowned expert on West African Yoruba art and culture who wrote scholarly papers into her 90s. Justine Cordwell Collection

'Africa Confidential is one of the longest-established specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with in-depth news and analysis on significant political, economic and security developments across the continent.'Africa Confidential